Maggie Rose, ‘Better’ – Song Review

‘Better’ is the finest ballad from Maggie Rose‘s new ‘Cut to Impress’ album. The singer is creative with her phrasing, and the performance is as raw as anything on the 10-song collection. She is still learning how to be a great storyteller, however, and with more experiences and a few years behind her, the single promises to only get… better.

Lyrically, ‘Better’ stands up to anything on the radio. It’s a story of heartbreak healed by whatever is found in the slim glass bottle tucked away in a cupboard or deep in the refrigerator. “There’s a bottle on the shelf, talkin’ to me / Sayin’, Come over here, you can have a drink / We can make it through this lonely night together,” Rose sings to open the song over the slow cry of the steel guitar and patient strum of an acoustic.

Patience is the key in this song. Rose doesn’t rush the verse, and allows the gin-soaked chorus to reach deep into the heart of the listener. “I just want to feel good, feel alright / Feel anything but what I feel tonight / I just want to move on with my life / And put the pieces back together / I just want to feel better,” she sings, showing impressive range and control.

The second verse shows that alcohol isn’t the only vice her character relies on to get over a man who left her: “When the lonely gets to be too much / I try to kill the pain with a stranger’s touch / Though I know I won’t forget him altogether / I just want to feel better.”

It’s real. A little more detail about the failed romance or some mention of what went wrong might fill in some of the spaces and allow Rose to deliver a more inspired performance. Instead, ‘Better’ is mostly a story of a woman and her drink, which can only get you so far.

Listen to Maggie Rose, ‘Better’

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